As electronic devices become more sophisticated, primitive signals and indicators are being replaced by audible signals that provide more information. This trend is likely to continue because consumers and users of equipment will demand more intelligent products and the manufacturing cost of audible signal generators will decrease.
Certain products and appliances are equipped with simple visible lights (e.g., incandescent lamps, LEDs, etc.) or audible devices (e.g., beepers, bells, etc.). In the case of automobiles, for example, an icon sometimes referred to as an idiot light, may illuminate when oil pressure drops below a predetermined level. This informs the vehicle driver to add oil to the engine. However, a driver may travel many miles before noticing such an illuminated icon on the dashboard. Similarly, when the door of a vehicle is opened and headlights are on, a bell or buzzer may sound. Unfortunately, the same bell or buzzer may be activated when another condition occurs, such as an unfastened seatbelt or another passenger door ajar. Failure to distinguish such a warning can be annoying at best and dangerous at worst.
Appliances with visual or aural indicators need not be vehicles. Most every electronic device from coffee pots and toasters to power generators could benefit from informative warnings and messages. Instead of an idiot light indicating an engine is overheating, for example, an intelligent voice synthesizer could articulate the temperature.
Voice synthesis has been used for many years to convey audible messages. From early computerized, mechanical “voices” to sounds more closely associated with humans, such messages have been used generally with relatively expensive products. Recently, however, as computer chips have become more affordable, human-sounding audible signal generators have been found in greeting cards and children's toys. It is therefore not impossible to imagine their use in the widest variety of electronic devices.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,754,630, issued to Das et al. on Jun. 22, 2004 for SYNTHESIS OF SPEECH FROM PITCH PROTOTYPE WAVEFORMS BY TIME-SYNCHRONOUS WAVEFORM INTERPOLATION discloses a method of synthesizing voiced speech from pitch prototype waveforms by time-synchronous waveform interpolation (TSWI). One or more pitch prototypes is extracted from a speech signal or a residue signal. The extraction process is performed in such a way that the prototype has minimum energy at the boundary. Each prototype is circularly shifted so as to be time-synchronous with the original signal. A linear phase shift is applied to each extracted prototype relative to the previously extracted prototype so as to maximize the cross-correlation between successive extracted prototypes. A two-dimensional prototype-evolving surface is constructed by unsampling the prototypes to every sample point. The two-dimensional prototype-evolving surface is re-sampled to generate a one-dimensional, synthesized signal frame with sample points defined by piecewise continuous cubic phase contour functions computed from the pitch lags and the phase shifts added to the extracted prototypes. A pre-selection filter may be applied to determine whether to abandon the TSWI technique in favor of another algorithm for the current frame. A post-selection performance measure may be obtained and compared with a predetermined threshold to determine whether the TSWI algorithm is performing adequately.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,708,153, issued to Brittan et al. on Mar. 16, 2004 for VOICE SITE PERSONALITY SETTING discloses a method of setting the voice personality of a voice service site. A user browsing a voice web visits a voice site where the voice output of the site is presented using a set of voice personality characterisers with which the user is particularly comfortable. The user, in subsequently transferring to another voice service site, opts to have the voice personality that was embodied in the set of voice personality characterisers used by the site being left, transfer with the user to the new site. This transfer will typically be subject to permissions set by both the site being left and the site about to be visited.
A voice recognition facility is provided with a communication system allowing a human voice to be provided to the system via a microphone in U.S. Pat. No. 6,263,202, issued to Kato et al. on Jul. 17, 2001 for COMMUNICATION SYSTEM AND WIRELESS COMMUNICATION TERMINAL DEVICE USED THEREIN. A communication system is disclosed whereby desired information can be transmitted in accordance with conditions and the application. The communication system includes a PHS terminal and a provider system that is capable of information communication with this terminal. The PHS terminal has a voice recognition section that receives voice from a microphone and recognizes the received voice signal, an input device that selects the output form of the voice signal, a conversion section that converts the recognized voice signal with the selected output form, and a transceiver that transmits the converted voice signal to the provider equipment; the converted voice signal is further transferred from the provider system to another destination wireless communication terminal device. This output form includes for example “dialect,” “intonation/imitated voice of a celebrity etc.” or “modulation.” Conversion filters convert the voice signal in accordance with these.
While the aforementioned patents disclose methods of receiving audible information and generating a synthesized signal responsive thereto, they fall short of describing a truly universal system that can be used by individuals and organizations at remote locations.
It would be advantageous to provide a communications system that could be accessed by individuals from remote locations.
It would also be advantageous to provide a plurality of information signal facilities (e.g., voice recognition, document scanning, etc.) to convey such information signals.
It would also be advantageous to provide a system that could synthesize voices equivalent to, or reminiscent of human voices, celebrity voices, cartoon voices, computer-generated voices and the like.
It would further be advantageous to provide electronic devices and appliances with facilities to receive information signals and to generate audible signals related thereto.
It would also be advantageous to provide a method of converting a human voice or document to an audible signal reminiscent or imitative of a celebrity's voice or a computer-generated voice.
It would further be advantageous to provide a method for an individual to program his or her electronic device from a remote location.